New Jersey | BooksYALove

Football, hard hits,
blanked-out moments,
keep on playing?

With a possible football championship the only bright spot in their small town, folks don’t take kindly to a young investigative reporter asking why the high school coach isn’t benching players with confirmed concussions longer.

With recent reports on NFL concussions and continuing concerns about head injuries in teen athletes, stories like the situation described in Second Impact have long-lasting consequences.

Read an excerpt here courtesy of the publisher, then head to your local library or independent bookstore to find this hard-hitting book told in two voices by a brother and sister writing team with much experience in sports and medicine, respectively.

Is it okay to play through pain?
**kmm

Book info: Second Impact / David Klass and Perri Klass. Frances Foster Books, 2013; paperback Square Fish, 2014. [David’s bio] [Perri’s site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A young sports reporter’s investigation of concussions sparks angry reactions as their New Jersey high school football team prepares for the championship, but her persistence may save someone’s life.

Carla covers sports for the Kendall High newspaper, and Jerry makes headlines as the winning quarterback (after the drunk car wreck fiasco blew over). She’s convinced him to join her in blogging about football and life, while she writes about recovering from soccer-ending ACL injury.

Things get dicey when her sports injuries series in the school paper starts talking about concussions, just as their star receiver misses a game after getting his bell rung.

Will Carla rehab from her knee injury and play soccer again?
Can Jerry push the team hard enough to win, no matter who is hurting?
When the Tigers’ possible championship is the only positive topic in their blue-collar town, can criticizing the coach be a good thing?

Told in alternating voices by a brother-sister writing team, this novel of blogs, emails, and conversations brings up tough questions for the kids at Kendall High and the adults who live in their reflected glory. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

book cover of One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva published by Farrar Strauss Giroux Summer school – ugh.
Stuffed grape leaves – yum!
Hearing Rufus Wainwright live at Central Park – yay!
Falling in love for the first time – ahhhhh!!!

Ask for One Man Guy today at your local library or independent bookstore, and enjoy Alek’s breakout summer and the glow of first love. (Armenian hospitality also includes the Khederian family recipe for Stuffed Grape Leaves at the end of the book).

Have you ever taken a big leap away from how people perceived you?
**kmm

Book info: One Man Guy / Michael Barakiva. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The tedium of summer school gives way to joy as Alek meets skateboarder Ethan who takes the Armenian-American teen under his wing and into his heart – the consequences of their adventures, however…

In summer school to raise his math grade from a B+, Alek has to miss family vacation, but can’t miss the cute upperclassman who’d rather skateboard than study.

Ethan gleefully convinces by-the-rules Alek to skip algebra and attend a Rufus Wainwright concert in Central Park. At 14, Alek realizes for the first time that he’s probably gay, which explains why his best pal Becky is the only girl he cares to be around (her love of rollerblading and old movies notwithstanding).

As Alek and Ethan grow closer, exploring NYC together instead of going to English class, watching classic movies with Becky, and just hanging out, life is wonderful – until his parents and big brother get home early from vacation with their Armenian church group.

If the Khederian family would only stop reminiscing about the post-WWI Armenian holocaust and critiquing food long enough to accept that Alek won’t be a perfect student… He’s ready to become his own person, a good and faithful person, a One Man Guy.